Trip Across Canada is a Success

After only 1 week in his yellow padded sleeping bag, Auggie arrived at his new destination for the week. Daniel was very excited to get a package in the mail, and happy to find a new friend inside!

Auggie told Daniel that we needed to log on to the Internet and let all his friends know that he arrived and is in one piece!

Auggie will be having a dinner of roasted potatoes, green beans, and chicken very soon, and then they will have a bath, a bedtime story and will be off to bed. Who knows what tomorrow will bring in the Adventures of Auggie!

Auggie goes bye-bye!

Carrick playing with Auggie for a few minutes on the day he was all rashy from a reaction to the meds

Attempt #1 to bring Auggie to the Post Office on Saturday but Carrick was too cranky

Carrick finally started to feel better last Monday so we took a little trip to the post office. Auggie is now gone to visit another August baby but we aren't telling who! Check your mail mommy's because Auggie may arrive in your box any day now. (Unfortunately, Canada Post went on strike the same day that Auggie left for his trip. Hopefully that won't affect the estimated 8-10 days.)

Auggie all wrapped up and ready to go

Final Farewell -- 1 last kiss

Auggie did have a nice 'bath' with anti-bacterial wipes before he went in his big yellow sleeping bag, so he is (hopefully) germ-free.

Carrick hopes that all of his little friends enjoy their time with Auggie as much as he did (before he got sick, that is). We can't wait to read about his adventures.

Poor Auggie

Auggie is not getting the attention he deserves. Carrick is just too miserable. He has had a high fever since Saturday. I brought Carrick to the Emerg on Monday night and they diagnosed him with a throat infection. He was put on Antibiotics and the fever finally broke on Wednesday night (I hope it is gone). He woke up this morning just as miserable, with no fever, but a rash all over his body. Dr is assuming it is an allergic reaction to the meds.

In all of this, Auggie is just hovering on the counter or on the couch. He hardly gets picked up. I think it is time for him to move on to his new home – if I can get to a post office.

A sick Carrick teaching Auggie to fly in a little burst of energy

Auggie's Weekend

Unfortunately, it wasn't a very fun weekend for Auggie.

After almost sleeping through the night Friday night (it would have happened if the cat hadn't jumped on Carrick and Auggie 3 times during the night), Carrick woke up in a not-so happy mood. Auggie decided to stay in bed a while longer and didn't get up until after Carrick's nap.

Carrick and Auggie got up just after 1:30 from their nap and grabbed a quick lunch before it was off to pick Ria up from a birthday party. We then made a quick trip to Starbucks, where everyone buy daddy waited in the car.

It was then time to head to the recreation complex for Ria's ringette game. (Ringette is kinda like hockey except the stick is straight with no blade and they use a ring instead of a puck. It is pretty much the female form of hockey).

At the rec complex, the boys and I (including Auggie) went to the viewing hall for wait for daddy to get Ria into her gear.

Carrick and Auggie had a ball, running up and down the aisle and Auggie kept trying to fly.

Ready, set , go....

fly, Auggie, fly

I tried to get a picture of them on a bench but by the time I would get the camera aimed, Auggie would fly away and Carrick would laugh.

Oops. where did Auggie go?

Auggie decided at one point to hide in Carrick's hood -- it was so cute because Carrick could see him and kept turning around in circles trying to get at him.

Where oh where, has Auggie gone?

Carrick was also nice enough to show Auggie all of the garbage cans in the corridor over and over again. They also went on a mission of picking up all the trash on the floor to put in the garbage cans.

"there's a garbage can, let's go visit it"

"Auggie, garbage can...garbage can meet my pal Auggie"

Auggie also played with Carrick's big brothers and showed them how he could fly and roll like a ball. Carrick was not too happy to share Auggie.

Then it was time to go to the bleachers to watch the game.

Mommy, Carrick and Auggie 'watching' the game

Unfortunately, Auggie was not a very good duck inside the arena -- he kept flying down the bleachers and at one point actually landed on the bottom (even though we were in the topmost level). So Auggie had to get a time out -- he sat in the corner on the bleachers for a while (poor Auggie) and then he got to go snuggle inside daddy's pocket where it was nice and warm.

Auggie on his 'time out'

After the game, we all went to the grocery store to pick up some fixin's for supper. Carrick's older brother decided to show Auggie how you should not behave in a grocery store. I really hope Auggie does not pick up any bad tricks here.

When we got home, we realized that Carrick and Auggie were a little under the weather with a slight fever. Both slept rather fitfully during the night and Carrick eventually abandoned Aggie to sleep with mommy and daddy. They both spent all day Sunday either in the crib or on the couch snuggling with mommy as their fevers got higher and they were more lethargic.

Carrick was sad to miss his last swimming lesson today. He had planned to bring Auggie and show him where he swims and maybe take him in the special whale pool at the end of the lesson.

They are both in bed now and will , hopefully , feel better after a good (fingers crossed) night's sleep.

Auggie goes shopping!!

Auggie and Carrick slept through the night last night!! Woohoo, I don't know if I will let Auggie leave because nights like that are few and far between.

Carrick and Auggie woke up just after Daddy's alarm went off. I wasn't so quick to rescue Auggie (truth be told, I am never quick in the morning), so Carrick decided to see if he could fly and threw him from the crib with his stuffies. But he needed to get him as soon as I took him out of his crib so we picked him up and brought him downstairs with us for breakfast. It was so cute, Carrick sat him in the middle of his tray as he ate.

Carrick and Auggie having breakfast

They shared Cheerios, Rice Krispies and pancakes. Carrrick showed Auggie how, after you are finished eating, you throw your spoon, bowl and remaining food on the poor. Carrick is very good at this and usually makes a big mess -- especially when he has cereal with milk like this morning. (I apologize in advance to the next mommy who has Auggie -- he will probably have perfected the art of food flinging before he leaves here. I hope he doesn't teach anyone else!)

At some point after the food flinging, Auggie was ducknapped by Fintan. Unfortunately Carrick didn't notice that Auggie was gone because he was too busy climbing on the dining room table and trying to hang from the chandelaire (sp??). Thankfully, Auggie didn't see that, wouldn't want him to have even more tricks to teach a new friend. Truthfully, I think poor Auggie just needed a rest -- it is hard to keep up with Carrick.

Auggie stayed hiding on the shelf until after lunch. We decided to take him Christmas shopping with us. Well Carrick fell asleep when the car started moving and Auggie found a nice nesting spot amongst the junk on the floor. He didn't even seem to mind when Carrick's almost 3 year old friend Max got in the car.

Auggie was having such a good snooze that I decided to leave him in the car while we went shopping. Carrick actually stayed asleep too when I transferred him to the stroller so it was a very peaceful shopping experience for me.

After shopping, Auggie learned what it was like to be part of this family and play race against the clock. We had just 45 minutes to get home and we still had to drop off Max and his mom (and we mustn't forget the ever important stop at Starbucks).

We made it to the driveway about 2 minutes before the school bus arrived. Auggie and Carrick were very excited to see the bus and the older kids getting off. Poor Auggie, I think he was overwhelmed by all the loud chatter. Unfortunately, he didn't know that the day was going to get even more hectic from there...

We had just 30 minutes for a snack and to nurse before we had to hit the road again to get Ria to gymnastics. First we had to drop Caymus off at his friend Liam's (Max's older brother) and then pick Ria's friend Ava up at her house in the next town.

Enroute to Ava's house, Carrick discovered that if he stuck his fingers down his throat far enough, he could make himself throw up!! He did this twice and managed to throw up quite a bit!! Lucky for Auggie, he had found a nice hiding spot between the car seat and the door and missed the barf! I stopped on the side of the highway to try and clean Carrick up but he was too much of a mess so I had to wait until I got to Ava's house. Ava's mom (who has twins -- a boy and girl -- born in August 2 weeks before Carrick) helped clean up the dirty clothes and car seat while I changed and wiped up the barfy boy. Then we were off -- 15 minutes late.

The traffic was horrendous and I hope that Auggie didn't hear me say a couple of harsh words about the idiots who cut me off!!

Since we were 15 minutes late for our lesson, Auggie decided to stay in the car while Carrick and I dashed in with the girls.

We came out after they joined the class and made a quick trip to Costco. Carrick and Auggie sat in the grocery cart and Carrick made sure to point out all of the garbage cans in the store to Auggie, over and over and over again. He also decided that he wanted to test out Auggie's flying skills again. He thought it was most fun to do this when there were other carts coming at us.

Here I must make a confession.... Auggie was run over by a shopping cart. The nice man then picked him up and handed him back to me. He wasn't hurt at all (good Auggie didn't even cry). It must be true that ducks (or is it cats?) have nine lives. (He will probably have used all 9 by the time Carrick is done with him!!) Auggie spent the rest of the shopping trip in the basket except for when I had to make a quick dash to the washroom. Carrick made sure that Auggie was happy and not bored in the basket by pointing out all of the garbage cans again. He also sang "the wheels on the bus" over and over again for Auggie.

Shopping was done and Auggie and Carrick got in the car while I loaded the groceries. And we were off to pick up the girls. We were a bit early so Carrick, Auggie and I went to the viewing room. Carrick tried to introduce Auggie to the art of gymnastics by throwing him on the floor. Not sure how impressed the lady was who had Auggie almost land in her lap.

Ah but Carrick was smart, he had distracted me enough to get me to loosen the mommy grip. And he was off... he picked Auggie up and tried to escape into the gym with him. I caught them in time before they got knocked over by some cartwheeling 7 year olds.

Carrick and Auggie trying to escape into the gym

Carrick was not upset at all, because when I turned him around, he realized that there was a GARBAGE CAN in the waiting room!! He brought Auggie over to it and held him above it as they both observed the contents. (I was scared Auggie was going to go swimming in the garbage but he didn't.)

Auggie meets a new garbage can

Auggie and Carrick then got to visit the girls changing room as we waited for them to get off their leotards. Auggie loved climbing the benches with Carrick. Then Auggie got to check out the shoe racks while the girls put their shoes on.

All of those shoes (Ava standing, Ria kneeling, Carrick attempting to pilfer shoes and Auggie doing a head-stand)

Then it was back to Ava's to drop her off. Carrick and Auggie both fell asleep to the lulling sounds of Hannah Montana singing "nobody's perfect" and slept till we got home. Auggie was kind of groggy so he decided to take a break from us all as Carrick nursed and then had supper. (Lucky Auggie got to avoid the major tantrum that Fintan took at the table). Carrick had a quick bath while Auggie was resting and then went to find him to go to bed.

Since Daddy is home tonight, Carrick nursed, brushed his teeth and then he and Auggie gave the big brothers kisses and turned out all the lights while mommy brought big sister to bed.

Stay tuned to see if Auggie's influence continues and he and Carrick sleep through the night again.... Tomorrow will be another busy day as Auggie takes in a game of ringette and gets to take part in the fun of sitting in the bleachers in an arena for an hour.

Auggie arrives in Canada!!

Auggie has a new home for a week and it is with 4 rambunctious children. I hope it doesn't make him turn around and head back to Christopher's house for a rest!

Carrick with his package

Carrick received a nice puffy yellow envelope in the mail today and I knew just what it was. The older kids didn't know anything about it so they were excited that he was getting a gift in the mail. After some debate over who would open the package, it was decided that big sister would help Carrick open the envelope. Carrick was very intent on his cheese and crackers snack but quickly forgot about eating when Auggie came out of the envelope. Auggie was a big hit!! (Actually so was the envelope and nobody was allowed to touch it or Auggie or he would squeal very loudly).

Holding Auggie for the first time

Big brother Caymus and Auggie

Unfortunately, Auggie caused a little trouble because he made Carrick throw all his cheese and crackers on the floor. Bad Auggie!!!

Carrick was/is totally in love with Auggie and carried him around for most of the day.

After snack, it was time for a road trip to -- you guessed it -- Starbucks!! (The first of many trips to Starbucks that Auggie will probably take this week.)

In the car on the way to Starbucks

On the drive, Carrick and big sister created a new song based on one of Carrick's favorites. It was "The Auggie's on the bus go up and down, up and down, up and down". We had to sing the same verse most of the the 30 minute drive or Carrick would get upset. Caymus, Carrick's big brother was not impressed and kept yelling at us to be quiet. It was a very relaxing drive...

Carrick, Auggie and Daddy outside Indigo, Carrick pointing to the store

Putting on Carrick's shoes while Mommy orders drinks at Starbucks

We went to Indigo which is a large bookstore with a Starbucks. It has a children's section so that mommy can sit and enjoy her beverage while the children play. Carrick was excited to take Auggie to one of his favorite places but first he had to show him all of the garbage cans on the way to the kids section. (I am not sure how impressed Auggie was with the garbage cans.)

Stopping for a quick sip of milk

Auggie is introduced to the garbage can

Auggie also made Carrick try to grab a porcelain piggy bank on a bottom shelf. Luckily big sister is quick and caught it before it crashed to the ground.

Carrick finally followed the garbage cans to the train table and promptly dropped Auggie so he could run around with a stool over his head. Another little boy thought Auggie looked like fun and tried to play with him. Carrick was not impressed!

Carrick then showed Auggie how to pull books off of shelves and climb onto tables. (I hope Auggie forgets this before he goes to his new friend's house.)

No time to sit when there is trouble to be had

We arrived back home at about 5:30pm. Auggie had fallen on the floor in the commute and Carrick was very excited to hold him again. He clutched him in his hands and carried him into the house.

Somehow, in the cufluffle to get the big kids homework done and get dinner, Carrick was not happy being ignored and he forgot about Auggie as he tried to find ways to get my attention. He finally succeeded in getting me to play with him but, by this time, Auggie had gone missing.

We sent the search party out after dinner and Fintan found Auggie. Somehow he had managed to creep under the computer desk. Luckily, he had been rescued just in time for bath!!

Carrick was very excited to share bath time with Auggie, he didn't even get down the many toys he usually has to play with. He held him tightly during the bath and wouldn't let go when it was time to get out. He was delighted when Auggie got a towel of his own -- well actually it was a facecloth but who's telling???

Bathing with his new friend

Bath is all over

After jammie time, it was play time some more and Auggie didn't leave Carrick's hands. Carrick did try to introduce Auggie to the toilet, but once again, big sister made a quick catch.
Carrick showed Auggie how to take toilet paper from the roll, ball it up and throw it in the garbage. (I don't know how Auggie feels about this whole garbage obsession).

It was almost bed time by then and since daddy had gone back to work, Carrick, Auggie and mommy put big sister to bed. Carrick and Auggie gave her kisses, tried to steal her webkinz and turned out the lights. Then in was upstairs time, where the big brothers were....

Carrick and Auggie nursed in mommy's room. (Actually, Carrick nursed and Auggie kept banging me in the head). Daddy arrived home around this time and helped rescue the parachute toy that had gotten stuck in the ceiling fan. Carrick and Auggie thought that was funny!!

The big boys got in their beds, Carrick and Auggie climbed on the beds for kisses and tried to swipe a couple more webkinz. Daddy then took Carrick and Auggie as they tried to cling to mommy and cried. But all was forgotten because they got to turn out three different lights. They then went to Carrick's bed where they will (hopefully but probably not) sleep all night.

Ahh.. It was a long hard day

More Auggie/Carrick adventures tomorrow.... (and the pics from Thursday's fun will be up soon)